My opinion of green food packaging design

Green food refers to the pollution-free, safe, high-quality, nutritious foods that are produced and processed according to the principle of sustainable development, and that are certified by a specific organization and approved to use green food labels. It is different from other commodities because of its special concept. Its packaging design should reflect its unique quality and cultural characteristics. There is a wide range of green food products, including agricultural and forestry and processed products, livestock and poultry products, aquatic products, beverages and other types. Green food as a special commodity, its packaging design should have special requirements.

Packaging is the final procedure for converting a product into a product and selling it. Its ultimate goal is to influence the concept and behavior of consumers, establish a brand image, and win a marketing strategy. Green food packaging is responsible for the information communication and promotion of green food products. It is one of the most direct expressions of green food brand image. At the same time, it is also an art combining the psychological and physiological needs of products and consumers. This article will briefly summarize and discuss green food packaging design from the perspective of design requirements, design elements and design procedures.

Design requirements

1. Rigor

The constant updating and progress of modern packaging structure, new materials, visual communication, etc., require designers to come up with rigorous and scientific design solutions, and the application of packaging materials and packaging structures must be scientific and reasonable. According to the requirements for packaging in the "General Guidelines for Green Food Packaging" (hereinafter referred to as the "Code"), for example, the surface of green food packaging shall not be coated with wax or oil; moisture-proof materials such as plastics shall not be allowed to be applied; metal packaging and glass products shall not be used. Sealing materials and internal coatings that cause harm to the human body and the environment; products such as expanded polystyrene and polyurethane are not allowed to be used in plastic products; water-soluble inks must be used for markings on cartons; oil-soluble inks must not be used; external packaging should have express materials Instructions for use and reuse, recycling instructions and green food signs, printing ink or label adhesives for external packaging should be non-toxic and harmless, and should not be directly exposed to food. These strict requirements directly stipulate the problems that are noticed in the design of green food packaging. In the selection of packaging materials and post-printing process, strict reference should be made to the requirements of the Guidelines. Do not use poor quality and toxic and hazardous materials due to cost considerations.

The shape structure is very important. Reasonable shape structure can make the package play a role in transportation and sales. Many packaging products look gorgeous, but the actual packaging does not meet the packaging design.

The rigorous and reasonable layout of text and graphics is also the focus of green food packaging design. The trademark sign system in the "China Green Food Trademark Mark Design and Use Specification Manual" (hereinafter referred to as the "Handbook") is the use of the specification mark on the packaging. The green food logos, characters, and product numbers of the logos used and the green food logo series that constitute the whole logo shall be designed strictly in accordance with the specifications and appear in the prominent position of the product packaging (tags), usually at the top. If the color design of the original package and the green label series are too conflicting, you can select the prominent position to print on the label.

2. Environmental protection

Implementing green packaging is an international packaging trend. The developed countries have determined that the packaging should meet the "4R+1D" principle, namely low consumption, development of new green materials, reuse, recycling and degradability. For example, Japan's Takasaki Paper Co., Ltd. uses fruit pomace discarded from the food industry to produce pomace paper. The method is simple, the grains in the pomace are removed, and they are pulverized into pulp, and can be made by adding an appropriate amount of wood fiber. Easy to use after decomposition, can be burned or compost, can also be recycled paper, not easy to pollute the environment. The carrot paper developed in the United Kingdom uses carrots as a base material, adding appropriate thickeners, plasticizers, and water repellents, and using the natural color of carrots, it can be used as a cheap, edible color vegetable paper. According to the Guidelines, the selection of materials in green food packaging design should follow the following principles:

(1) Reduced, thin, easy to separate, high-performance packaging materials.

(2) Recyclable and renewable packaging materials.

(3) Degradable packaging materials.

The use of natural ecological energy for the development of natural packaging materials and the use of paper packaging is also strongly promoted.

3. Aesthetic

Bright, healthy and lively packaging style can give people a beautiful enjoyment. A considerable part of the design of green food packaging has long been lack of creativity, hard and rigid. Even some products are directly packaged in poor quality snakeskin bags and exported to some countries in Europe and Japan, seriously affecting the image of green food. The spiritual slogan of green food is "from an excellent ecological environment, bringing a strong vitality." From an aesthetic point of view, green food packaging as the last procedure to be sold, presented in front of people should be in line with the spiritual slogan of green food.

4. Practicality

Can be discussed from three aspects, one is to protect the performance design, including moisture, mold, tamper, shock, leakage, shatterproof, anti-extrusion and so on. The second is to facilitate the design of the performance, including convenience for the display and sales of the store, for the convenience of customers to carry, use, etc. The third is to promote the performance design, that is, without the introduction or demonstration of sales staff, the customer can only understand the product through the “self-introduction” of the packaging screen and decide to purchase.

Design elements

1. Text

Text is the crowning touch to packaging design. The artistic charm of the font is endless, and it can be combined with words and figures, words and letters. For example, the export of green food can be expressed in the traditional calligraphy arts. The products sold in China can be processed in the distortion of modern fonts. In addition, the green label design of green food packaging is also a problem that is easily overlooked. From the current market, some green food packages on the packaging of green labels are still not standardized, and do not meet the relevant specifications in the “Handbook”. For example, some packaging will change the font of the words “green food logo is permitted by the China Green Food Development Center”. At the same time, there are strict regulations for signs and standard words, and the layout and design between the green label and the main body of packaging should also pay attention to a reasonable position and size. Under normal circumstances, the basic characters such as green label, green food name, product name, manufacturer, and capacity are all arranged on the main display surface of the package. The functional explanatory texts and data characters are often arranged on the side or the back of the package and require regular printed fonts.

2. Graphic pattern

The graphic patterns in the packaging often occupy most of the packaging image and even occupy the entire screen. Therefore, the position of the graphic pattern in the packaging image is very important. As a design language, the graphic pattern is to express the internal and external elements of the image and convey the information to consumers in the form of visual images. The important function of graphic design is that it visualizes the subject of package content in the form of art. People can directly or indirectly feel the content of the product and the desires it brings, based on visual patterns that are intuitive and intuitive. For example, the graphic design of milk powder packaging can adopt more pleasing, lively and healthy shapes, expressing health and nutrition effects, giving people a sense of vitality; the graphical design of exported green food can adopt the symbols of traditional Chinese cultural characteristics, reflecting China. The characteristics of traditional cuisine.

3. color

Color is an important factor in beautifying and highlighting products. The use of packaging colors is closely related to the conception and composition of the entire screen design. It is based on people's association and the habit of color, and a high degree of exaggeration and discoloration is a means of packaging art. In green food packaging, different colors represent different green food efficacy. For example, aquatic products and beverage-based green foods should be designed with a cool and quiet feeling of blue and green; green foods for grain and oil, livestock and poultry should be used with vitality. , positive feelings of red and yellow are designed. The color design in green food packaging should reflect the content and nature of green food and cater to consumers' psychological needs. Designers should study the habits and preferences of consumers and the changing trends of international and domestic fashion colors to enrich the visual effects of packaging and affect consumers' desire to purchase.

Design procedure

The program includes product function requirement analysis, product specification definition, design scheme implementation, and printed product manufacture. For the above four phases, the main considerations are technical and economic factors such as market consumption demand, product quality, cost, and feasibility of manufacturing technology. Functional requirements analysis and product specification definition are the stages for asking questions and investigating and analyzing. The purpose is to understand some characteristics of green foods so that further design work can be done. If you take the general green food as an example, you should fully understand the design before designing. The characteristics, status, use, raw materials, performance, specifications of the green food, and the age, psychology of the consumer, etc., to determine whether the green food is boxed or bottled and packaged in size, material, capacity, size of the sales package, and what is used Kind of hue and so on.

The main task of the implementation phase of the design plan is to conceive and determine the design plan. The difference between the design of green food packaging and ordinary packaging is that most of the packaging main body has a combination of green labels above the display surface. Some packaging has already been packaged and sold on the market before it has been granted access to the green food mark. According to the specifications of the “Manual”, the Green Label series graphic is placed at the top of the screen and maintains a certain proportional relationship with the packaging (tags). It is not allowed to change the position without permission, and no other colors and graphics are allowed to be stacked. This ensures the overall image of the package as a whole. Some packaging is designed after obtaining the right to use the green food logo. The design method based on the name of the green food may be adopted. The green food logo is placed in the prescribed position and the product name is placed on the main display surface of the packaging. , so that consumers can understand the effectiveness of the green food from the name of the green food. Green food products are rich in color, cold and warm colors can be used, the key is to have a sense of color integrity, combined with the green standard harmonious and vivid.

The printed product stage is critical. A good packaging design requires excellent print quality to make the work perfectly reflected. For different green food packaging shapes, different packaging materials, different printing methods can be used. Designers should keep track of material selection and printing process to ensure the final printing effect.

In recent years, the consumption of green food has become a trend that has gradually become a symbol of modern people's quality of life. The packaging design of green food as part of modern artistic creation is a manifestation of modern culture. Designers must consider and study technical aesthetics and commodity aesthetics so that the product achieves the unity of the material use value and the spiritual aesthetic value. The use of environmentally friendly materials to convey to consumers the concept of no pollution, safety, quality, and nutrition is the only way to increase the brand image of green food companies and expand market share.

(Wang Min)